Fieldwork News
E-Mail Excerpts From Allen and Tara Laban, India 2005
Allen and Tara Laben share their impressions, adventures, Bible School experiences, and pastoral activities, all of which were packed into their first month in India. Tara has a very engaging writing style, so these e-mail extracts make for an easy read. You will want to read all three!
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Part Four
Pastoral Work in Visakhapatnam—
Nov 23, 2005

Dear Loved Ones,

We arrived in India two months ago today. It seems to have passed by in a moment. It'll be March before we know it! You've heard our reports on our initial reactions, the visits to Kolkata and Vijayawada for Bible Weeks, and a few other impressions. Time to unveil the real project that has taken away most of our e-mail time: pastoral work in Visakhapatnam.

Nestled in a crescent of hills stemming from the Eastern Ghats, Visak sits on the edge of the Bay of Bengal and houses Andhra Pradesh's biggest factories and plants. It's the second biggest city in the state and has the largest ship building yard in the country. The factories make for plenty of jobs which have encouraged the establishment of suburbs. We live in one of these suburbs, Old Gajuwaka, about 25 kilometers from the city center.

Busy Schedule
A cluster of Christadelphians in this area gives us a busy schedule. We divide our time between the two ecclesias as we bounce between Bible Classes, CYCs, and Sunday morning meetings. I've been writing and giving as many as 12 classes a week, but thankfully I can use some of my classes twice since we have two audiences. A wise brother once told us that "missionary work is about working yourself out of a job."

We took on most of the speaking burden when we arrived in order to build familiarity with the local ecclesias, encourage the regularity of these events, and address some of the outstanding issues.But now the focus is on passing the work on to a rotating roster of speakers. When Paul wrote to Timothy, he emphasized the importance of speaking and teaching to foster personal spiritual growth and that this duty should be shared. Unfortunately, our natural fear of responsibility tends away from that and many of the ecclesias have only a few brethren who do all the work. It's hard to say if our encouragement away from this trend will have any impact, but we're working on it – may God provide the increase.

Youth Group
One of the ecclesias has a strong Youth Group that meets weekly following the Sunday memorial service, and it's a joy to attend. A half-hour class is followed by rambunctious games that usually involve chasing, tagging, or passing. They love learning games we play at CYC in Norfolk. Mind games and riddles like "the Hand Game" can last for hours. Does anyone know the game ZIP BOING? That one's a hit, too.

The second ecclesia has plenty of young people, but a fleeting CYC that forms when the missionaries visit, but disbands when they leave. Here lies a second project. How do you show young people that they need each other? How do you show them that it's for their good that they get together on a regular basis – not just for a show when the Westerners drop by? These are hard questions that aren't unique to India.

God blessed our situation over the last two weeks as we had our first regular meetings and classes on the importance of CYC and on how to read your Bible and share your thoughts. Surprisingly, the group enthusiastically took up the idea of creating a speaking roster. We pray that this fire won't die out once we leave! We have to remind ourselves that it is Christ who watches over the Visak ecclesias and he will see to their growth.

Flood Waters
Before coming to Visak, we could anticipate these activities – we expected that we would attend ecclesial functions, give classes and encourage participation. However, we did not expect some of the other tasks placed before us. We mentioned in a previous e-mail that Visak has suffered from major flooding from the monsoon season. Since we arrived in the middle of this crisis, we became the front-line reporters and intermediaries assessing the situation.

On our second day in Visak we jumped in an auto with two other missionaries that were passing through and headed out to S.T. Colony, which still had flood waters lapping at the bases of half the homes. The water reached a height of 8 feet in the lowest areas, enough to collapse the walls of every hut and completely demolish 20 of the 60 dwellings. To get to the colony, the flood waters first traversed a graveyard and sewage ditches, adding a concern of cholera, dysentery, and hook worms. When we arrived at the colony, a light rain welcomed us and persisted as we took photos and counted damaged huts.

A few weeks later we returned, this time to make a complete map of the colony and a list of the affected families. We helped arrange contractor estimates for replacing the mud and wood huts with cement homes, met with the local chapter of World Vision to make sure that our efforts would not overlap with theirs, and e-mailed all reports and maps back to Hyderabad. Continuing with the unexpected activities, we also found ourselves drafting maps and reports on a leprosy colony that suffered damage from the heavy rains.
On a brilliantly sunny afternoon, Tara and I toured the 16 hut colony on the edge of an old rock quarry. Again, we took photos, asked about the damage to each home, and typed up our observations with our suggestions.

Marriage Issues
Our involvement in marriage issues may be our most unexpected role here. Like anywhere in the world, marriages take work, and when someone doesn't want to put in the effort, things fall apart. As it should be, the local brethren are doing most of the counseling; we've simply tried to comfort, listen, and encourage communication between the couple. Although we sometimes really wish God would just make everyone's decisions for them, the final choices rest in the hands of our Sister and Brother – the situation is disappointing right now, but only God knows how that story will end. Husbands and wives out there – never give up on talking to each other and never stop forgiving.

Support System
Every day brings a new appeal for money, a call for a class for some special occasion, a request for a visit, and we've had other unexpected "big issues" come up that have sometimes left us wondering how to respond. The wonderful support system of brethren has helped us tremendously when we feel we're getting in over our heads. It's a blessing to know that all the answers rest in God's word, and that wise counsel is just a phone call away. Amazingly, Tara and I haven't felt too over-burdened or stressed. We've not been forced to take on any role we felt ill-prepared for. When we send out our help signals, the reinforcements come in a flash, whether in the form of a local brother or sister to fill one of our roles when other issues leave us pressed for time, or sound advice over the phone from the likes of Tim Galbraith. Yes, there have been challenges, but the sort of challenges that foster growth rather than crush. We cannot give enough thanks to God for the capable brothers and sisters in this area, and our fellow missionaries that help shoulder the loads we can't bear alone.

We weren't expecting to be acting in a pastoral role over here – before we came, Tara and I agreed that we'd happily do any job in India except pastoral work. I suppose our main reason for this stems from our age – but Paul certainly didn't think young Timothy too young for the work! Maybe God had a lesson to teach us.

It feels like we can't even write the half of what's going on here. Thank you all for your prayers!

With love in Christ,
Allen and Tara

Newsletter Archive
Fieldworker Report–Winter 2007 (PDF)
Focus on P2P–Spring 2007 (PDF)
The Year in Review–Winter 2006 (PDF)
Outreach DVDs–Fall 2006 (PDF)
Sisters–Summer 2006 (DOC)
Fellow Workers–Spring 2006 (PDF)
Life Solutions–December 2005 (PDF)
30th Anniversary–Fall 2005 (PDF)
December 2004 (PDF)
December 2003
May 2003 (PDF)
December 2002 (PDF)
December 2001
January 2001

Fieldwork News Archive
Allen and Tara Laben – India–4
Allen and Tara Laben – India–3
Allen and Tara Laben – India–2
Allen and Tara Laben – India–1
Gospel of Peace–Hawaii
WCF Brethren Visit Romania and Turkey, March, 2005
Exploring Cambodia–Early Preaching Activities
Jamaica, December 2004–January 2005 [1.1 MB PDF]
Basic Bible Teaching in Joliet, Illinois

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